Thank goodness my parents instilled a love of reading in me when I was a kid. As far back as I remember I have always loved to read. Mom got us all library cards and would take us there on a regular basis to check out books. Didn't matter what I was reading as long as I was reading something. A book, a newspaper, a comic book, anything! I even had the habit of having something at the table to read when I was eating. Car trips for me were spent with my nose in a book, oblivious to my surroundings, which by the way, always seemed to drive my parents crazy. "Put that book down and look around, ya might never get back here again" was always a favorite line they would spout off. I would sigh, look up for a few minutes, then go back to my book. All this got me to thinking the other day about all the magazine subscriptions we had when I was growing up. Mom had her magazines like Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens and the Ladies Home Journal. Dad had his National Geographic and Flying magazine. The Readers Digest was shared by both. And it was funny with the magazines. I always thought Dads National Geographic magazine was boring. The articles on all the foreign countries held little interest to me. The Flying
magazine was basically the same thing each month with a different cover. It always showed some type of airplane in flight with the pilot looking up toward the
camera. But strangely, my moms mags provided fascinating reading for me! They almost always had a article about a family member getting sick or being struck with some type of personal tragedy and how the mother rallied at the end to save the family. I read with interest the different cooking methods being discussed and the recipes being shown. I was captivated by the flowers being planted and the gardens being planted. I'm sure that has something to do with my interest in flowers and cooking today. But what really got me to thinking was the ad for Virginia Slims
cigarettes that always used to run in those magazines my mother would get. The one where it would always show a modern woman with a smoke in hand and the ad saying " You've come along way baby". Wouldn't that apply to all of us today? I know it would me. From being that little boy that always had his nose in a book to the the man I am today. A boy who's now a father. A boy who now doesn't get to read like he used to. "You've come along way baby". Work has replaced play. Instead of worrying about school and passing that tough class now it's bills and my job. When we are young we can't wait to grow up. Then one day you do and that kid you used to be is gone. Vanished. Just someone that you used to know. "You've come along way baby". Have we? I'm gonna promise myself to start going to the library again. I'm gonna order a couple magazine subscriptions. I'm gonna try to contact that boy I once knew who I haven't seen in so long. I have come along way. And I still have a long
way to go.
magazine was basically the same thing each month with a different cover. It always showed some type of airplane in flight with the pilot looking up toward the 
camera. But strangely, my moms mags provided fascinating reading for me! They almost always had a article about a family member getting sick or being struck with some type of personal tragedy and how the mother rallied at the end to save the family. I read with interest the different cooking methods being discussed and the recipes being shown. I was captivated by the flowers being planted and the gardens being planted. I'm sure that has something to do with my interest in flowers and cooking today. But what really got me to thinking was the ad for Virginia Slims 
cigarettes that always used to run in those magazines my mother would get. The one where it would always show a modern woman with a smoke in hand and the ad saying " You've come along way baby". Wouldn't that apply to all of us today? I know it would me. From being that little boy that always had his nose in a book to the the man I am today. A boy who's now a father. A boy who now doesn't get to read like he used to. "You've come along way baby". Work has replaced play. Instead of worrying about school and passing that tough class now it's bills and my job. When we are young we can't wait to grow up. Then one day you do and that kid you used to be is gone. Vanished. Just someone that you used to know. "You've come along way baby". Have we? I'm gonna promise myself to start going to the library again. I'm gonna order a couple magazine subscriptions. I'm gonna try to contact that boy I once knew who I haven't seen in so long. I have come along way. And I still have a long
way to go.
